A Definition
by Queen of Debate
Summary: Mon-El hears those three little words and doesn't know what they mean. He reflects on Kara's definition as he tries to go beg her for a second chance. Set before and during 2x16. A bit of angst and a bit of fluff. Established Karamel. Oneshot. Rated K .


**Hey! Here's a bit angsty, bit fluffy Karamel oneshot. Set before and during 2x16. Karamel is my OTP. This comforted me at 3x07. Disclaimer: I do not own Mon-El, Kara, or anything in the Supergirl universe. I also do not own** ** _Breakfast at Tiffany's._**

They didn't have the expression on Daxam.

On the top of his head, he couldn't think of a single tender phrase from his home planet. There were words of admiration, of course, but somehow, he knew they were reflections of the qualities of the person saying it as opposed to the person it was being said to. He had lived that way all his life. And while he was exposed to love on Earth with Kara, he didn't know how to say it.

The first time Mon-El heard it was a Saturday night only a few weeks after he and Kara started going out. They were stretched out on the couch, an old movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's, playing in the background. Kara's head was pressed into his chest, their bodies interwoven. He could feel her heart beat against his own and she breathed gasps of warm air onto him. His eyelids drooped with fatigue. Still, he wanted to see what was going on in this movie. Kara seemed to care deeply about it, so he decided he would as well.

The man with the light hair had said something to the girl with the dark hair and the big sunglasses as they sat in the library: "I love you".

He had never heard it before. He'd heard "love", of course, but not in this sense. The man had lost his temper when she left. He kept repeating it, like those three words were the most important words he had ever spoken.

He blinked, trying to define the phrase.

"What does that mean?"

"What?" Kara tore her eyes from the screen, glancing at her boyfriend. Without her glasses, her eyes were astoundingly azure. Mon-El nudged his chin at the screen.

"What Fred, or Paul, or whatever his name just said. What does it mean?"

Kara swallowed, practically scoffing. He could see the traces of a smirk on her pink lips.

"'I love you', you mean?"

"Yeah, that," Mon-El nodded, feeling his face flush. He thought he had learned most of the English words by now.

"Oh!" Kara's cheeks were pink. "Uh, it's nothing important. It's just a… phrase people on Earth use. To convey their feelings."

"What feelings?" Mon-El's eyebrows furrowed. Kara sighed, not meeting his eyes.

"Well, romantic feelings. Amorous feelings. But, I mean, not just a normal attraction. It's like they're the most important person to you, I guess. You care about them more than you care about yourself. It's not just a small thing. They're kind of a big milestone."

"Huh. I guess that makes some sort of sense," Mon-El responded. He analyzed her face. She was looking at his chest, not his eyes. Her face was a bit red. She was biting her lip and he could see the crinkle in her forehead that she always had when something bothered her.

He quickly ran through her words in his mind. She didn't seem too fond of "I love you". She seemed to even be scared by it. Or maybe she was just scared of him knowing those words.

Sensing her apprehension, he made a mental note to never bring those words up again.

"Can you rewind a minute? I want to see the last bit of that scene," Mon-El requested, changing the subject. Kara seemed to give a little sigh of relief. She quickly picked up the remote and rewinded the movie.

He tried not to think about those words until later that night as they lay in bed. Kara was asleep, she usually fell asleep before him. His arms were wrapped around her waist and her back was towards him. Her golden hair was splayed out across the pillow. She seemed so serene as she slept, like she wasn't carrying a huge burden on her back. He thought she looked the most beautiful that way.

"I love you," he whispered, trying to catch the feeling of those words on his tongue. He wasn't sure if he was using them correctly. He recalled Kara's definition. He did care more about her than about anybody else on the planet. He admired her more than he admired himself. But she had said they were big words that meant a lot. Did she mean that they weren't ready for them yet? Did she not care that much about him?

Mon-El closed his eyes. He couldn't think about it anymore or he would drive himself crazy.

And so he didn't. He cast the words out of his head and paid attention to more pressing matters. He spent countless more nights with Kara. He didn't even remember them until he was walking back from the DEO the night after his meeting with his parents, after Kara learned he was not just Mon-El, but Prince Mon-El of Daxam.

He couldn't lose her. She was too important to him. He needed to do everything in his power to stop her from breaking up with him. He didn't know how to express how much she meant to him until those words began ringing in his head.

I love you, the little voice in his head reminded him. Mon-El sighed. The meaning, the significance of those words still confounded him. But from what Kara herself said, he knew he loved her, whatever that meant. He had never felt so passionately about somebody in his entire life. He cared more about her than he had ever cared about a person before. And they weren't small feelings, they consumed him, carrying with him wherever he went.

He needed to tell her that. Before he lost her forever.


End file.
